Tug of War
by Cassy27
Summary: Tony stormed forward and violently grabbed Loki's arm. "Why do I care?" He asked, incensed. "Why do you think I care?" - "Oh, please," Loki scoffed, "do not speak to me about your sentiments right now." A fight between Tony and Loki gets out of hand. IronFrost. OneShot.


**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Marvel-characters!**

**Warnings: Domestic violence. Explicit language.**

**Rated M, just to be safe.**

**AN: This OneShot was inspired by the song 'Love the Way You Lie – Part II' (mostly Eminem's part). After listening to it so many times, I felt the need to write this. I want to thank ****GreenLoki**** for helping me out with it. I really hope you guys will enjoy this. I know it's a hard and dark story, but I still hope you'll let me know what you think of it afterwards. **

**~ Tug of War ~**

"Is it true or not?" Tony demanded to know. It had been weeks since he last sounded so angry – no, make that furious. His dark brown eyes revealed nothing but betrayal and rage. He wished he didn't feel this way. He wished none of it mattered, but the truth had hurt him more than he ever thought possible. When had he become so attached? "Is it true?"

"What does it matter?" Loki hissed at him. He had his back turned towards Tony as he gazed towards the horizon of the city of New York. It was impossible to see the expression on his face, but Tony guessed it looked somewhere between animosity, bitterness and madness. It was his words that angered Tony the most, however. "Why do you care?"

Tony stormed forward and violently grabbed Loki's arm. He forced him to spin around and face him, refusing to have this discussion while staring at Loki's back. He deserved more than that. "Why do I care?" He echoed, incensed. "Why do you _think_ I care?"

"Oh, please," Loki scoffed, looking down on Tony, "do not speak to me about your sentiments right now."

Tony boldly shoved Loki's shoulder – _hard_. He didn't care he was facing the Norse god of mischief. He didn't care that the man standing before him could crush him with his bare hands. He was just too pissed off to give a damn about any of that.

"My sentiments should matter to you," Tony spat, feeling insulted and belittled, "because I certainly care about yours!"

"Don't tell such lies!" Loki argued heatedly. He grabbed the hand Tony had used to shove him and twisted it painfully. A startled cry escaped from Tony's lips and he quickly pulled it out of Loki's grasp. "You do not care for me," Loki continued, "and you certainly don't love me!"

"I'll decide that," Tony shouted as he clutched his wrist. The pain was already fading, however, since he was too furious at the moment to care about his physical well-being. "But first answer my question! Is. It. True? Are you married?"

"Yes," Loki answered with a smooth and cold voice. His green eyes spoke of nothing but hostility and cruelty. Did he enjoy the way his truthful answer hurt Tony? Did he enjoy seeing his heart break? "Yes, I am married, Tony, to an Asgardian woman named Sigyn. What will you do about it?"

"Do not…" Tony was faintly aware of how his heart raced within his chest, how his breathing grew erratic and how his hands itched to break something. "Do not patronize me! Do not think for one moment that you'll get away with this!"

Their hard, cold, and loud voices continued to echo through the penthouse.

"Get away with what?" Loki asked tauntingly. He took a step closer towards Tony, glaring down at him with a murderous look in his eyes. "With marriage? I do what I want, Stark, and you sure as hell won't make a difference."

"Do you mean that?" Tony breathed hard. His hands clenched into tight fists until his knuckles turned white. "It doesn't matter what I do? Or say? Or think? You don't care one bit about me, do you?"

"Finally," Loki screamed, throwing his hands in the air, "finally you understand!"

Tony knew it was a lie – Loki always protecting himself like this – but his fist shot forward anyway, punching Loki in the face. _Hard_. Again, he couldn't care less that he was squaring off with a god. Besides, Loki was unarmed and this wasn't even the first time they butted head like this, though most of the times, Tony wore his suit. A part of him was afraid he might get some serious injuries, but Tony could live with that for as long as he wasn't the only one getting hurt.

Before he could move away, Loki seized him and subsequently threw him at the nearest wall. A painful surge ripped through Tony's body and a muffled cry escaped his lips.

"Do you think you stand a chance against me?" Loki was fuming, his green eyes wide with power and wrath. Every muscle in his body stood tense. "I will not let you get to me, Stark!"

"Fuck you," Tony hissed. He pushed himself up, quickly standing and finding his balance again. The edges of his vision darkened for a moment, but he refused to back down. He would not let Loki win this fight so easily. "Just fuck you, Loki!"

"_Oh_," Loki said with pursed lips as he narrowed his eyes. Venom laced his voice while his gaze betrayed partial amusement. "But you already did that," he continued, a crazed laugh escaping his thin, pale lips, "last time we had a fight like this, we wrecked half of Central Park, but after, you still fucked me."

Tony was no longer responsible for his actions. He only saw a red hot anger that consumed him and fueled him. He grabbed around him, his fingers clenching around the first object he came across. It was an expensive, but nearly empty bottle of his favorite whiskey, but he didn't care about that right now. He threw it at Loki with all the strength he still possessed.

The bottle broke into a dozen pieces against the side of Loki's face, causing his head to snap aside on impact. A deep cut that started at the corner of his left eye and ended a few inches lower instantly began to bleed. For a moment, nothing happened. There was only silence, but eventually Tony began to grin. He'd actually managed to silence the god of lies – the Silvertongue.

Loki's gaze fell on him and a destructive, bloodthirsty look filled his cold and wild green eyes.

"Come on then!" Tony screamed, spreading his arms in a daring and provocative manner. "Fight me! Destroy me and return to that whore of yours!"

Loki stood before him in the blink of eye, the speed of his movement momentarily knocking all air out of Tony's lungs. He felt how Loki's right hand painfully tightened around his chin, forcing him to stay in place. Tony refused to let out a pained cry. He refused to give Loki that satisfaction.

When Loki spoke, his voice was low and surprisingly calm. Calm before the storm. "Do you want me to return to her?" He asked poisonously. "Do you want me to leave you behind? You'll be all alone, Tony." Loki pushed him away and into the cocktail bar. Several glasses fell to the floor, shattering on impact.

Tony easily found his balance again and quickly took a step forward, knocking his elbow into Loki's side. The god doubled over, his eyes screwed shut.

"Leave then," he bit back. "Go on! Return to Asgard! Is she still waiting for you?"

Loki said nothing.

A hollering laugh burst from Tony's lungs because this was not the reaction he'd expected. "You can leave me all alone," Tony fumed, "and maybe you are right. If you leave, I might end up alone. But the same goes for you, Laufeyson. If I leave, who will love _you_, huh?"

Loki slowly turned to face Tony who thought Loki would attack him viciously – perhaps even snap his neck for what he had dared to say. Tony had never thought he would find his death at the hand of the deity standing before him. Yet there came no counterattack – be it verbally or physically. Instead Loki's gaze had turned…wounded. A slight frown adorned his face and with the blood covering his cheek, he actually appeared _damaged_.

This was what happened all the time, Tony realized. He and Loki could light up the sky in their best moments, but when they fought and argued, they brought the sky down. They screamed at each other, punched each other, and did everything within their power to hurt the other until … until there came a moment when one of them broke.

This time, it was Loki who broke first.

Tony straightened his back and inhaled deeply. He needed to calm first, he needed to let the adrenaline slowly fade from his veins. When a minute had passed with nothing but silence, he stepped closer to Loki and carefully reached for his injured cheek, wiping away a little of the blood.

"I don't know why we keep doing this," he sighed as he stared into Loki's burdened green eyes. "I don't know why we keep tormenting each other. Can we go back, please?" His fingers brushed through Loki's inky hair. "Can we just-" He never got to finish his sentence.

Loki's lips crushed his in a demanding, possessive manner and Tony did nothing to stop him. He wanted this as well after all. A new start. It was always a new start. They fought and screamed at each other, but it always ended like this. In the wake of the destruction, they found each other again. It was wrong and twisted, but this was how they worked. They ignored the lies between them and they ignored the doomed ending that was without doubt awaiting them.

This moment was all they cared for and screw the rest of the world. Tony feeling Loki's body pressed against his, feeling his lips and tasting his anger and bitterness was all that mattered.

~ 0 ~

A sharp, shrieking, but loud sound announced the arrival of the elevator to the top floor of the building. Tony quickly gazed down at his body, instantly relieved that he was at least wearing his boxers. The last thing he wanted was to hurriedly get up to fetch some underwear in order to face his guests. He faintly wondered when Loki had left exactly – after their destructive fight and inevitable angry make-up sex – but he quickly concluded he must have been sitting there alone for at least an hour already.

When the first footsteps filled the penthouse, Tony gazed over towards the elevator.

"What on earth…" Steve breathed, his gaze falling across every broken object in the room. Tony followed his gaze, finding the same broken bottle of whiskey, smashed glasses and the tear in the wall behind him. The place probably looked as if a hurricane had just passed through. If Tony thought about it, he could actually conclude Loki resembled a hurricane. Fierce. Brutal. Unwavering.

What shocked Steve most, however, was the sight of Tony sitting against the wall, slumped and wearing only his boxers. He had a large bruise covering his chin and a part of his neck. Steve couldn't see it right now, but Tony knew another large bruise covered most of his back when he'd been thrown into the very wall behind him.

Steve was accompanied by Clint. The Hawk was usually a collected and composed man, and he never made it a secret he didn't care about the billionaire, but even he arched an eyebrow at the scene before him.

"Are you okay?" He asked and for what might be the first time, Tony could hear actual concern in Clint's voice. Concern for him – could this be a new level to their platonic friendship?

"Yeah, yeah," Tony sighed. He pushed himself up and straightened his back when he suddenly became very self-aware. He couldn't care less about the fact that Steve and Clint saw his underwear, but he didn't want to be seen as weak and exhausted. "I'm fine. Don't worry. This is nothing compared to Central Park, right?"

Steve exhaled sharply as he remembered the events in Central Park a few weeks ago.

"Djeez," Clint muttered, his gaze taking in the damage around him.

"Hey, do me a favor," Tony began. He conjured a grin to his face, but it never reached his eyes. He felt too exhausted to put up a façade and the angry make-up sex with Loki had surprisingly little to do with that. But days such as these – days filled with rage, bitterness and distrust – felt like a drug. In the moment you feel powerful and strong, but as soon as that rush ends, you are faced with an inevitable crash and everything just sort of becomes…worthless.

"What favor?" Steve asked when Tony was momentarily lost in his thoughts.

"Don't tell Thor," Tony said, "I don't want to face that as well today. Besides, I survived Loki and I really don't want to face my end at his big brother's hands."

Steve and Clint exchanged uncertain, worried glances. Any other day Tony would have called them on that, but today he couldn't deal with that either. He walked towards the cocktail bar and grabbed a new bottle of whiskey. When he realized that he'd broken every single glass in the penthouse, he simply drank from the bottle. He was faintly aware of the horrifying image he had become in front of his friends and colleagues, but he didn't even have the energy to care about that.

"God, Tony," Steve said uneasily, "why do you…" He hesitated for a moment, but he voiced his thought anyway. "Why do you and Loki keep doing this? Why do you bother with it all if _this _keeps happening?"

"Because days such as these are hell," Tony replied truthfully, exhaustion lacing his voice, "but sometimes, just _sometimes_, we're actually good together and we can...conquer the earth. Then there is nothing we can't face together."

Clint looked skeptical. "Just sometimes," he echoed with disbelief in his voice.

"Yeah," Tony sighed. He took another big gulp from the bottle of whiskey as he couldn't give a damn about the disapproving looks Steve and Clint were throwing him. "Just sometimes."

~ 0 ~

The End.

~ 0 ~


End file.
